The present disclosure relates generally to medical devices and, more particularly, to the use of spectroscopy to monitor changes in the temperature of water-bearing tissue.
This section is intended to introduce the reader to aspects of the art that may be related to various aspects of the present disclosure, which are described and/or claimed below. This discussion is believed to be helpful in providing the reader with background information to facilitate a better understanding of the various aspects of the present disclosure. Accordingly, it should be understood that these statements are to be read in this light, and not as admissions of prior art.
Some forms of patient treatment involve removing unwanted portions of tissue from the patient, for example by surgical resection. However, for tissue areas that may be difficult to access surgically or for very small areas of tissue, tissue ablation may be more appropriate. Tissue ablation uses energy directed at the tissue site of interest to heat the tissue to temperatures that destroy the viability of the individual components of the tissue cells. During tissue ablation, an unwanted portion of a tissue, e.g., fibrous tissue, lesions, or obstructions, may be destroyed. Ablation can be achieved by various techniques, including the application of radio frequency energy, microwave energy, lasers, and ultrasound. Generally, ablation procedures involve ablating tissue that is surrounded by otherwise healthy tissue that a clinician wishes to preserve. Accordingly, better therapeutic outcomes may be achieved through precise application of the ablating energy to the tissue.
The precision of the ablation may depend in part on the type of energy applied, the skill of the clinician, and the accessibility of the tissue in question. For example, ablation may be complex if the target area is moving. During catheter ablation to correct an abnormal heartbeat, the cardiac tissue in question is typically in motion, which may affect the volume of tissue ablated. Because the ablation may take place internally, as in the case of cardiac ablation, assessment of the volume of the tissue necrosis may be difficult. In addition, depending on the type of ablating energy used, controlling the area of the ablation may be easier than controlling the depth of the ablation. Accordingly, the depth of the necrosis may vary from patient to patient.